I'm running the Chester Marathon on 6th October 2019 to raise money for North Wales Knights Wheelchair Basketball.

North Wales Knights is the regional organisation which brings together the four wheelchair basketball clubs based in North Wales - Rhyl Raptors, Conwy Thunder, Caernarfon Celts and Anglesey Hawks - to compete in national wheelchair basketball competitions.

In the 2018/19 season North Wales Knights fielded five teams in all; three National League teams, a Women's League team and an under 18s Junior League team. It was an extremely successful season with Knights 1 and Knights under 18s becoming British Champions for National League Division 2 and Junior League respectively.

Wheelchair basketball is an inclusive sport played by players with and without disabilities. North Wales Knights and their four constituent clubs give both junior and adult players the opportunity to learn the sport and to constantly develop and improve. Knights also run the North Wales League - a competition between the four clubs which is played each season.

My son Rhys plays for Knights under 18s and for Knights 3 in the National League, which involves weekly training sessions and lots of trips to matches throughout the season. Because joining in training sessions was more fun than just watching, I also play for Rhyl Raptors in the North Wales League.

The Knights system depends entirely upon the efforts of volunteers who work extremely hard running training sessions, game days and carrying out huge amounts of behind the scenes administration.

The reason I'm running the Chester Marathon and raising money is because North Wales Knights also have significant running costs throughout the season, for things such as court hire, equipment, competition entry fees and fees for match officials. As a family we get huge benefits from the opportunities provided by Knights so I wanted to do what I can to help out.

I've run several half marathons before, but never the full 26.2 miles, so I will be getting the training miles in between now and October 6th!